


comfortable

by deathgameholic



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, happy birthday kanata!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:49:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26205214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathgameholic/pseuds/deathgameholic
Summary: “Kaoru,” Kanata began, sounding serious, “I have a ‘request’ for you.””Eh?” Kaoru looked over. “What is it?””Will you come puka puka in the ‘ocean’ with me?” With that, he moved away from Kaoru, heading towards the water.
Relationships: Hakaze Kaoru/Shinkai Kanata
Kudos: 37





	comfortable

**Author's Note:**

> helllooo i just wanna say right off the bat this is my first time writing for these characters and i also did not have time to edit this since i just wanted to get something out there for kanata day so please forgive any mistakes 
> 
> anyways! if youre like me you too are upset that we were robbed of a bday interaction for them this year. i wrote this out of spite towards happy elements for this and i will soon be showing up at their door to complain.
> 
> i know it isnt still kanata day everywhere but where i am it is so technically this is not late ;)

“Kaoru,” Kanata began, sounding serious, “I have a ‘request’ for you.”  
  
”Eh?” Kaoru looked over. “What is it?”  
  
”Will you come _puka puka_ in the ‘ocean’ with me?” With that, he moved away from Kaoru, heading towards the water.   
  
“Hey, Kanata-kun, I’m still wearing my clothes, you know~? And I don’t have a change with me, so...if they get all wet it’ll kind of be a problem. Plus, you can't swim, so it might be a bad idea for you to go in the ocean? That’s dangerous.” Kaoru followed him anyway, but he didn’t plan to go in the water.   
  
Kanata turned back to him and pouted. That expression was honestly kind of cute...though Kaoru wished it were on a girl instead. “That is why you must ‘go in’ with me. Then I will not be in any ‘danger’.”   
  
“Uh, wouldn’t the safest option be to not go in at all?”  
  
A shake of Kanata’s head tells him _no._ “Not going in is never an ‘option.’ I have gone too long without being in the ‘water’...soon I will ‘dry up’ and ‘die.’”   
  
Well...when he wants to go in the water, Kaoru learned well by now that it’s not so easy to stop him. It’s probably better just to let him. “O~kay, but maybe I’ll just watch you from the shore so I don’t get all wet.” He stood on the edge of the water.  
  
Kanata, however, quickly shut that plan down too. He grabbed Kaoru’s wrist, and the sudden contact sent a chill down his spine, which he tried to ignore. “But, Kaoru...it is my ‘birthday’.”  
  
Uh, okay...that was actually a fair point. “I guess I can’t deny you on your day, huh? Well, it’s fine...my clothes will dry. At least take your shoes off first.” He kicked off his own shoes and watched Kanata do the same before pulling them both into the water.   
  
Once they’d waded in a short ways, Kanata let go of his wrist to sink down into the water, moving about happily. “Bubble, bubble~ ♪”  
  
Kaoru shook his head, amused, and sunk down a bit as well. It was kind of uncomfortable fully clothed, but it was still nice to be in the ocean. “This really is your happy place, huh, Kanata-kun? It’s the same for me, too, so I understand. It’s still kind of strange to me that you can’t swim, though.”  
  
Kanata took a moment to answer, as he was occupied by his floating around. “I do not ‘need’ to be able to swim, though? I can bathe in the ‘shallow’ water just fine, like in ‘fountains’ or like this.” He paused again. “I ‘enjoy’ bathing in the sea with Kaoru, too. I ‘wish’ you would come do this with me more often.”  
  
Kaoru laughed. “Well, maybe if you wanted to go in the sea at more opportune times, I would? Like...not when I’m wearing all my normal clothes, not to mention the fact that you’re usually in the fountain anyways. I’m definitely not going to join you in one of those.”  
  
Disapprovingly, Kanata splashed some water at him. “I do not see the ‘issue’ with the fountain. It is a very ‘convenient’ source of water.”  
  
”Hey, you~!” Kaoru splashed water right back at him. “The fountains really aren’t for swimming, you know you could get in trouble.”  
  
”And here I thought Kaoru understood my ‘feelings’ about the water. It is lonely, you know, when no one understands.”   
  
Kaoru suspected there was a bit more truth than was obvious behind that joking statement, but he didn’t touch on it. “I do understand, Kanata-kun, don’t accuse me of those things...well, kind of, at least. Normally I wouldn’t put effort into something like understanding a guy’s feelings, but since it’s you it’s fine. We’re similar enough, anyways. The water’s important to me too.”  
  
Kanata laughed. “Kaoru is ‘funny.’”   
  
“Hey, don’t laugh at me! What do you mean by that?”  
  
”I mean...” He touched a finger to his chin in thought, and then seemed to get distracted before he could even finish the statement. “It is ‘late.’ Today has been very eventful...I am ‘tired’.”  
  
Kaoru glanced over at the setting sun. “It _is_ getting late...ey, Kanata-kun, you can’t go to sleep in the water! Get up!”   
  
In the second he’d looked away, Kanata had turned over and closed his eyes. “Nooo...” he refuted lazily, voice partially muffled by the water. “I’m ‘sleepy’...now is time to rest. The water will ‘recharge’ me.”  
  
Kaoru shook his head. “No, it won’t, you’ll just end up drowning if you fall asleep in there. Come on, let’s go.”   
  
No response.  
  
With a sigh, Kaoru realized he’d have to do the work here. “You can be so hard to deal with sometimes, you know?” he asked, but there was no heat behind his voice as he lifted Kanata up into his arms and began to carry him out of the water.  
  
They did this last year, too.  
  
Kaoru honestly felt a little bit guilty for stealing Kanata away from everyone on his day yet again, but Kanata had been the one to ask him this time.  
  
Last year, after the festivities of Kanata’s birthday had died down, Kaoru invited him to come to the ocean with him. It’d been fun, just a simple hangout, and he hadn’t thought to invite him again this year, but Kanata suggested it, so...Kaoru wasn’t going to turn him down on his birthday.  
  
Besides, it was fun to spend time with him, even if he could be a handful.  
  
It seemed like Kanata had fallen asleep shortly after Kaoru picked him up, so he had to carry him _all_ the way from the water to the other end of the beach, where he sat down on a bench and laid Kanata down, letting his head rest in his lap.  
  
Kanata was sleeping, after all. Making him rest his head on the hard bench would just be mean, so this was...fine.  
  
He really was pretty, for a guy, and the soft, unguarded expression and tiniest hints of a smile on his face made something tug at Kaoru’s heart.  
  
He tried to ignore that, too.  
  
Gently, he pushed some of the stray pieces of Kanata’s hair aside, and ended up running his fingers lightly through it. He thought, as he did so, that he really wouldn’t mind this kind of thing happening all the time. Messing around with Kanata on the beach and in the water, seeing his sleeping face at night...  
  
”Fufu,” Kanata laughed suddenly, opening his eyes and snapping Kaoru straight out of his thoughts, making his face flush a pale shade of pink as he pulled his hand away. “Kaoru is ‘sweet.’ So considerate, good boy, good boy...”  
  
”Hey, you were _awake?_ You could’ve said something, you know! I had to carry you all the way here!”  
  
”Mm...but I did not want to ‘walk.’ Being carried by Kaoru was much nicer.” Kanata smiled innocently up at him. “Think of it as...’revenge.’ For that time _you_ ‘pretended to sleep’ in the marine life clubroom.”  
  
Ah, yeah, that...that was the time Kanata tried to kiss him. Thinking about it now made him a little embarrassed. “Well, that’s fair enough...now that you’re up and I actually _know_ about it, let’s go.” It was starting to get really dark out.  
  
”No,” Kanata denied simply, and his eyes closed again. “Don’t~ wanna. I would ‘rather’ stay here for a bit longer.”  
  
”I mean, okay, but we can’t stay out here for too long.”  
  
”Mmm.” That was...probably an affirmation. “Kaoru. Go ‘back’ to doing that ‘thing’ with my hair, please.”  
  
Kaoru looked away, blushing again. “Uh— That wasn’t—“   
  
“Wasn't something I was supposed to ‘know’ about?” Kanata finished for him, laughing. His laugh was always a soft, melodic sound that was almost...magical. “That’s right, you thought I was ‘sleeping.’ Or...it wasn’t something you ‘meant’ to do? Hehe, funny as ever...but I ‘liked’ it, so please continue.”  
  
Kaoru inhaled sharply. That really wasn’t the kind of thing he normally did with guys — Kanata was right, he really hadn’t meant to do it, he wasn’t thinking — but...it was okay because Kanata was his friend, right? So he complied, moving one hand to run it through his (very soft) hair. Kanata hummed quietly, probably a content noise.  
  
Ah, what a funny situation this was. Being out in public, doing this kind of thing...last year he would’ve been doing this with girls. He didn’t know what that meant for now, but found as always it was easier not to think too hard about it. He was content like this, too. Once again, he really didn’t mind it.  
  
Later, he’d probably end up overthinking it, but for now he didn’t want to. He just wanted to enjoy it and not worry about _why._  
  
”Did you have a good birthday, Kanata-kun?” he asked.  
  
Kanata smiled. “Yes...all my friends came to my ‘party’ and gave me ‘presents’. I even got to _puka puka_ in the ocean with Kaoru, so I’m ‘happy’.”  
  
”That’s good. You deserve it. I mean, you’re a good guy, you know? Saying those kinds of serious things isn’t really like me, but since it’s your birthday and all I wanted you to have a good time.”  
  
“Ahaha, ‘thank you.’ You really are a good boy, you know~”  
  
”Hey...you know it makes me kinda happy when you call me that, but let me be nice to you on your birthday, would you? But, anyways, thank you too.”  
  
Kaoru glanced up at the sky, one hand still in Kanata’s hair while he rested on Kaoru’s lap.  
  
He knew, in the back of his mind, that there was a reason he shouldn’t, but he felt...comfortable here. Yeah...he could get used to this kind of thing.

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday kanata!!!
> 
> thank you for reading ❤️


End file.
